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Klingon Bird-of-Prey (22nd century)
In the 22nd century, the Klingon Empire operated a type of warship described as a "Bird-of-Prey". It was so named because of its bird-like, swept-down wings, painted with a bold feathered pattern. It has a crew of 24. (ENT: Cold Station 12) History In mid-2153, Duras was given command of a Bird-of-Prey and assigned to capture Jonathan Archer, the captain of the ''Enterprise'' (NX-01). Although his ship outgunned Enterprise during its first attack as the latter ship approached the Sol system, it proved no match for a squadron of three Earth Starfleet vessels, including the Intrepid. Months later, Duras launched a second attack against Enterprise as it traveled from Earth to Vulcan. However, by now Enterprise had been upgraded with stronger hull plating and photonic torpedoes, and proved to be an even match against Duras's lone vessel. Finally, Duras gathered the assistance of two other Birds-of-Prey to launch a third attack against Enterprise at the edges of the Delphic Expanse. This time, Enterprise managed to evade the attack by entering the Expanse, something which Duras was willing to risk, but the other warship captains were not. Enterprise destroyed Duras's vessel by performing an L-4 maneuver to attack the other ship's undefended rear. (ENT: "The Expanse") In May of 2154, a Bird-of-Prey picked up a small transport shuttle and attempted to take the Human Augments aboard prisoner. The Augments quickly rebelled against the ship's crew and took it over. The Augments recieved the signal of their father, Arik Soong, and set course to intercept Enterprise, where Soong was being held. When they reached Enterprise, the ship was under attack by two Orion interceptors. The Bird-of-Prey quickly destroyed one of the interceptors and the other retreated. After taking aboard Soong from Enterprise, they departed for Cold Station 12 where the Bird-of-Prey remained above the facility with a skeleton crew. They engaged Enterprise in hit and run tactics and after the crew returned, they set course for the Briar Patch. However, Malik and his followers rebelled against Soong and his pacifist ideals. Soong escaped in an escape pod with the help of Persis and later went on to help Enterprise destroy the Bird-of-Prey and all of the Augments with it. (ENT:"Borderland", "Cold Station 12", "The Augments") Armaments & Defenses The Klingon Bird of Prey is armed with two types of weapons, two torpedo launchers, one both fore and aft, and four forward firing disruptor banks, two on the end of the ships 'wings', which can be fired in either pulse or beam modes, and two on the underside of the upper hull. Also located on the bottom is a large dual disruptor cannon emplacement, similar to the one that can be found on D5-class battle cruisers, which in turn is able to swivel in all directions and protect the ships stern. The Bird of Prey is also equipped with deflector shields which can be amplified to shield a specific direction. There are also two tractor beam projectors located on the underside of the 'wings'. However, with all of these compliments, the refitted Enterprise still outguns the Bird-of-Prey three to one. There is also one major drawback in the design of the ship. A direct hit on the main plasma junction above the sensor array can disable the entire power grid. (ENT:"The Augments") :The "Bird-of-Prey" designation was originally believed to be solely a Romulan term that was adopted by the Klingons in the late 23rd century. With the appearance of ships of this name in use by both Klingons and Romulans in the 2150s, the origin of the term is much more obscure. Category:Klingon starship classes de:Klingonischer Bird-of-Prey (22. Jahrhundert)